


Once in a Lifetime

by toriguzi



Category: shapeshifters - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-04
Updated: 2013-06-04
Packaged: 2017-12-13 22:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/829642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toriguzi/pseuds/toriguzi





	1. Chapter 1

When I was a kid, I didn’t know the meaning of love. I didn’t know the feeling of a fast heartbeat when I would think about her, I didn’t feel the excitement, or the sensation of a kiss. I didn’t truly know the meaning of love, until I met her.

It all started the night before the masquerade ball. I am hoping to meet the one I will love today and for the rest of my tomorrows. 

“Are you ready to meet your soulmate?”my mom asked me.

“Yes mother,”I replied.

“Oh how grown up you are! It wasn’t long ago when I had to stop you from picking on the girls,” she exclaimed, pinching my cheek.

“Mom! Stop it!”

We just arrived at the palace. As I stepped out the carriage, I saw that in the center of the garden, was a gazebo with a beautiful pond surrounding it. I’ll take her there, I thought, that would be the most romantic place to spend time with her. I imagined us there, standing together with a priest behind us and a beautiful sunset as the setting. She would walk down the aisle with the sun turning the sky a flaming orange. 

I finally snapped back into reality as my best friend, Aaron, slapped me on my back in greeting.

“What’s wrong with you?” he questioned.

I shook my head clear and straightened out my clothes.

“Oh nothing, I’m just shocked by the beauty of this place,” I answered. 

We entered into the ballroom, there were many beautiful women. although I was not looking for just a beautiful girl, I was looking for a girl with a beautiful heart.

I asked many women to dance with me that night. All were beautiful, but only cared about wealth. As I was going to give up, I saw her. She had beautiful long black, curly hair. She wore a beautiful white silk dress. Her eyes were as green as emeralds, her lips as red as rubies, but her smile worth more than diamonds. She was beautiful beyond compare.

Unfortunately by staring at her, Scarlett, my friend, followed my gaze to where she stood. 

“She’s very pretty, ain’t she?” she asked.

“Beautiful,” I breathed.

I was just about to walk over and ask her to dance, when Aaron intercepted her, bowed in front of her, and led her to the dance floor. I cursed under my breath. There was no way I could be with her now. Aaron was the guy girls always dream about. He had dirty blonde hair, green eyes, and an “irresistable smile” as he called it. 

Me.. I was an ordinary guy, with ordinary features. I just had brown hair and brown eyes, nothing interesting. The only thing interesting on my face were my dimples.

Glancing back at Aaron, I saw her dancing the waltz with him. They looked at each other straight in the eye with such intensity. Aaron had his hand around her waist as he held her close to him. 

As the song ended, Aaron whispered something in her ear, which made her giggle. He took her hand and led her outside. I walked out onto the balcony. What I saw shattered my heart. Aaron and the girl were standing at the gazebo, playing around the pond, splattering water at each other. 

As I left the party, Aaron saw me and ran towards me.

“Hey where are you going?” he insisted.

“Home,” I answered, stiffly.

“Why? Why are you acting like this?”

“Don’t act dumb! You know why! Now leave me alone!”

I stormed off. I went home and just... I just lost control. I never had this feeling of anger so much before. 

There was knock on the door. I opened it, only to see Scarlett. 

“May I come in?” she asked. 

“Of course,” I answered.

I closed the door behind her.

“Would you like some tea?” 

“Yes please,” she paused, “Aaron told me you were angry, so I thought maybe I could cheer you up.”

“Thanks. but I don’t need cheering up.”

“Psh. Okay. Well can you at least tell me what pissed you off?” she inquired. 

“Can you not be so nosy?” I commented.

“Can you not be such a jerk when you’re mad?” she countered. 

“I’m sorry. It’s just that Aaron... I like her and tonight he-”

“Who’s her?” Scarlett interrupted.

“...Don’t laugh at me....but I don’t know her name...” I murmured. 

Scarlett let out a snorting laugh that I've been used to since we were kids. She finally calmed down once I poured her some Irish Breakfast tea.

“Well I happen to know what her name is,” she publicized, giving me a teasing smile. 

My heart skipped a beat.

“What is it?” I finally asked. 

“I’m not telling you.”

“What?! Why not?!”

“You have to do something for me to.”

“Okay what is it?” I said, not thinking.

“I need you to be my boyfriend.”

“Why?”

“All my friends and family have been bugging me about getting a boyfriend for years, and when they asked for the millionth time, I just made up a guy.”

“Why do I have to be this guy?” I asked, whining.

“Be the guy and get the girl. Deal?” she bribed. 

“Well what do I have to do?”

“There’s gonna be a family reunion party. And I need you to be my date.”

“That sounds easy.”

“Oh um just a little catch.”

“What?”

“My family may be a little different than most people...”

“Different how?”

“You’ll see.”

Scarlett stood up and pushed in the chair.

“Thank you for the tea,” then she walked quickly to the door.

“Scarlett, how differ-”

She slammed the door shut. 

“Strange,” I said aloud. 

I changed into my pajamas and went to bed. As I lay in bed, all I could think about was her and Aaron dancing, and if I could really “get her” as Scarlett said.


	2. Chapter 2

“So when exactly is this family reunion?” I asked. 

“Today,” she said bluntly.

“Today?!”

“Yeah it’s at six o’clock.”

I checked my watch and saw that it was 2:30 p.m. 

“That means that it’s in 3 hours and 30 minutes!”

“Yup. Oh and that means that means I should go home and get ready,” she stood up and pushed in her chair. “And you should too.”

“Well what should I wear?”

“It’s formal. Wear a suit.”

“Yes. Of course. I’ll pick you up at 5:30.”

“Okay.”

After Scarlett left, I took a bath. I finished bathing, pulled on a red velvet robe, and walked down the hallway to my wardrobe closet. As I stared into my closet, I saw a white suit, a black suit, and a navy blue suit. I chose the black suit and a red tie. I combed my hair and put on some cologne.

While I was getting cleaned up, my mother walked into my room. 

“Well don’t you look nice. Where are you going?”

“A family reunion.”

“Who’s? Not ours I hope.”

“No. It’s Scarlett’s.”

“Why on earth are you going to Scarlett’s family reunion?”

“Because she asked me to be her date.”

“Awww. That’s sweet that you guys are a couple now. I always thought you would be.”

“We are not a couple. I’m just pretending to be her date.”

“Okay.”

She obviously didn’t get what I said because she walked out of the room, smiling. 

I heard our grandfather clock chime 5 times. I checked in the mirror once more and straightened my tie. As I headed down the hallway to the front door, my mother caught me. She looked at my tie and shook her head. 

“That won’t do,” she muttered.

Meanwhile her fixing my tie, I tapped my foot impatiently waiting to go to my carriage and arrive at Scarlett's house. Finally my mother finished. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and dashed out the door. 

Outside waiting for me was a nice black carriage that was led by two chestnut mares. I jumped in, told the driver my destination, and we were off. 

Soon enough, we pulled to a stop. We arrived at Scarlett’s mansion. I got out of the carriage and walked up the steps to the door. Before I could even knock, the door pulled open. There stood Scarlett’s father. 

“William! Come in! Come in!”

“Thank you.”

“Scarlett will be down in a little while. Please have some tea.” He gestured to the lounge room.

“Thank you for your offer, but I’m already filled with tea.”

“Haha!”

Scarlett’s father’s laugh boomed throughout the room and maybe even through the house. 

“‘Filled with tea’ he said! Haha!HAHA!”

Scarlett’s mother walked into the room.

“William!”

“Mrs. Jones. How are you?”

“Oh fine perfectly fine. Scarlett’s almost done getting ready.”

“Haha! Darling he said he’s filled with tea!Haha! Isn’t that the jolliest thing you’ve ever heard?!”

Mrs. Jones looked at her husband in disgust.

“Hilarious,” she said, sarcastically. 

I couldn’t believe this man.Here I was trying to plaster on a smile, while he was raving on about a comment I made. Mrs. Jones obviously wasn’t too pleased either. She took the newspaper off the tea table, rolled it up, and started beating Mr. Jones with it until he shut up. 

“Hey! Why’d you do that?!”

“Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot, I wouldn’t have!” she yelled and she stormed off.

I thought I heard her mutter “why did I marry you?” but didn’t really know. 

Mr. Jones just gawked at where Mrs. Jones left. I was left there, waiting for this awkward moment to pass to subside. 

Just then, I heard the door upstairs open. I looked upstairs and there was Scarlett. She wore a strapless, dazzling blue dress with the right necklace to match. She wore her hair down in curls, held back with gorgeous diamond-covered pins. And she walked down the stairs with such grace and beauty that I couldn’t help but be proud to be called her “boyfriend.”

Mr. Jones and I stood as she entered the room and bowed in front of her, while she curtsied. 

“You look nice, William.”

“And you look divine, Scarlett.”

Scarlett blushed and smiled.

“Well the carriage is waiting outside.”

I held out my arm and Scarlett took it. We walked to the front of the door with Mr. and Mrs. Jones right behind us. 

“Won’t you be attending with us?” I asked. 

“No. We’re taking our own carriage,”Mrs. Jones said.

“If you insist.”

“I do.”

“Well then we better go or we’ll be late.”

I walked Scarlett to the carriage, while Mr. and Mrs. Jones stepped into the carriage behind us. The next thing I knew, we were heading to the family reunion. 

“Your father has a strange sense of humor,” I said, trying to break the silence.

Scarlett gave me a long sideways glance.

“He has a free spirit. And he loves to laugh it’s in his shapeshif-....*cough* personality.”

There was an awkward silence between us. 

“Your mother is very strict with him,” I stated. 

“Haha,” Scarlett chuckled. “Yes she is. but that is in her spirit, too.”

“I’m glad to go to this event with you.”

Scarlett smiled. “Me too.”

“umm. Last night, you said your family is different..how?” I asked. 

“They each have different personalities like my parents.”

“So does everyone else though. How are they different?”

“”But my family have personalities that match ani-Oh! Look we’re here!”

“Wait! Match what?!”

But Scarlett ignored my question and opened the carriage door.


End file.
